Dear Visible Evidence community members,

Visible Evidence—once an annual conference, now a community—has grown and evolved since its founding in 1993. In recent years, Vis Ev attendees and Governing Council members, conscious of the passing of cherished colleagues who helped form Visible Evidence’s “first generation,” have discussed ways to ensure the sustainability of what we’ve built.

Several years ago, after much discussion within the Vis Ev community and Governing Council, Visible Evidence filed for nonprofit status in the U.S. We are now a membership organization, the Visible Evidence Foundation, capable of collecting (U.S. tax deductible) annual dues and to be eligible to receive external grants and funding.

In fulfillment of this new status, the Governing Council announces the following dues structure:

Fully employed: $50/year

Graduate students and the precariously employed: $25/year

Visible Evidence Patron: $100/year

Institutional member: $500/year

Annual memberships can be purchased by clicking on the above links.

These collected funds will help us implement several longstanding initiatives:

1) provide limited support to graduate students for conference travel, 2) supplement host efforts to fund independent artists’ conference travel, and 3) create and support awards for scholarly excellence in our field; furthermore, with our nonprofit status, we can 4) apply for grants to supplement funding for all the above.

We will require that, beginning with Visible Evidence XXXII in Philadelphia, August 2025, all presenters be Visible Evidence members in good standing. Upon acceptance of proposal(s), presenters must register at the appropriate membership level.

All of these changes are intended as ways to maintain three decades of scholarship, collaboration and friendship in the service of documentary culture.

All best wishes,

Michael Renov

for the Visible Evidence Governing Council